The Brockville Railway Tunnel could get a train – of sorts – in the near future.

While it would not travel up and down the popular tourist attraction, an old train now sitting west of Upper Canada Village, or at least part of it, could end up gracing the north end of the Railway Tunnel.

The Brockville Railway Tunnel Committee has put forward a preliminary expression of interest in the old engine, which the St. Lawrence Parks Commission is unloading because of massive repair costs.

But tunnel committee chairman Brian Porter said those talks are still preliminary, as other groups might be interested, and city council would have to sign off on any relocation plan.

“Everything is so preliminary now,” said Porter.

The old train and the station that sits next to it are artifacts from the Grand Trunk Railway that used to connect the Lost Villages before they were submerged beneath the St. Lawrence River in 1958. But, like all things left exposed to the elements for decades, the train has severely deteriorated.

A community group came together in the early 2000s to raise money to do some refurbishment work. But the condition has become bad enough again that the parks commission is prepared to dispose of the locomotive unless someone else wants it.

While the host municipality of South Dundas wants to keep the train, its council recently turned down a possible relocation, concerned about repair costs. In a statement, the township suggests another grassroots organization could raise money for the refurbishment work.

But for the parks commission, the question of the train’s future begins and ends with money. According to director of marketing Susan Le Clair, a recent estimate of what the refurbishment work on the locomotive would cost came back with a price tag of $1.1 million.

Commission chairman Bob Runciman said he suggested the Brockville tunnel committee give the train a look a few months ago, and members went over to see it.

Runciman said he encouraged the tunnel group to consider bringing over the entire train, with the passenger car serving as a souvenir shop or a small restaurant.

“It could be a source of revenue for the committee,” said Runciman.

The tunnel group, however, is only interested in the engine and the tender, or coal car, said Porter.

The rest of the train, he added, is too expensive to repair.

The tunnel group has plans to develop the space around the north end of the site in a second phase, plans that remain on hold while the committee and council sort out the attraction’s financial situation.

The Morrisburg engine could serve as an entrance to that second phase and, before then, a north-end entrance to the current phase, said Porter.

The engine, built in Kingston, has some connection to the local area, Porter believes.

“It was the type of train that was able to go through the tunnel in that era,” he said.

Porter could not discuss a timeline for such a move, as the situation is still in its early stages.

And Runciman said his preference remains leaving the train somewhere in the Morrisburg area, if someone can be found to take care of it in its entirety.

“Finding money for this project is challenging to say the least,” said Runciman.